misce... what?

Miscellane!

Why? You are jus about to find out!

When I entered my teen years, I found myself in a very competitive environment. Everybody wanted to be the best at something. At school, all my classmates were checking on each other's grades to see who did better at a test. At church, some people watched you, waiting for your first fault. It was too much jealousy, and honestly, if there is one thing my parents taught me was to always keep yourself far away from it.

I've always been very shy. It's gotten better after I went back to Brazil from my exchange program in Virginia, but still, I'm pretty shy. I think that one of the main reason's why I never really stood out was my shyness. If there's anyone who other's attention more than me, he/she gets it. I hate competing for attention or recognition, and I don't believe these are things that you should force people to do.

Now that I'm on my twenties and figuring out what my profession will be, I started to question myself about what do I really like to do? What am I really good at? What is my strength? And the answer is: I don't know.

I like A LOT of things. I like reading, cooking, drawing, painting, photography, traveling... And I'm actually pretty good on what I do. If I cook, people compliment me for that, if I take picture, people compliment me for that, or if I make a piece of art, people like it!

So is it bad to do lots of things good instead of focusing in just one thing?

I love learning and changing.

It makes me happy and accomplished to learn something new, even if it takes a long time. When I started taking interior design, I loved learning how to use those drawing tools, how to match furniture, art and design history and how to apply it nowadays. Now that I'm taking Creative Communications I'm loving to learn how to write properly, how to read critically, how to think critically, how to design, shoot videos, etc.

But I can't really say I'm the best at something.

I get sick of things easily, is that a bad thing? It's not like I'm going to throw everything up in the air and change, it's more about improvement, or my favourite word: refinement. That's why, one day, when my hair stylist told me to dye my hair purple, I did. Why not? Hair grows, and if I didn't like it, I'd just dye it blonde again (and spend a lot of money... hahaha).

This week's ad's assignment was to create our own brand. When I started blogging, I brainstormed to find the best name for it. I didn't want my name because, truth be told, it's a hard name to spell and pronounce. There wasn't a word I could relate to, because I didn't know what my blog would be about. Would it be about fashion? Yes, but not only that. I wanted to talk about the things I like, and I like a lot of things! Miscellaneous would be the best word. And Miscellane is a derived form of that word.

So long story short, I did this presentation for my assignment trying to explain myself, and my brand!

Hope you enjoy it and I would love to have some feedback from you! :)

p.s.: I promise that next semester this blog will have a focus, and will talk less about me! hahaha

things that made happy this week!

This week has been crazy!

With the end of the semester coming up, we had a lot of school work to hand in this week. I haven't had more than 5 hours of sleep for 4 days! hahaha
Plus it's freaking cold in this city! I never imagined -30 would be so cold! The winters I've been through in Toronto were very different from here.

I don't feel like going out and I can't even think about taking the bus to school. I spend only five minutes waiting for the bus and I can't feel my legs anymore. So scary!

So yeah, it's been pretty hard so far! haha

One thing I've tried to do is thinking positively. I'm living in a new place, experiencing new things, meeting new people and although that seems amazing, it's not always easy!

I am trying to get my creativity back in my life. It's been only three months and a week since I arrived  in Canada and within this time I rented an apartment, furnished it, bought all my kitchen appliances, started speaking English again, started school, made new friends, started a new program in college, and started living by myself for the first time. If you think, my life changed a lot in a little time.

It makes me overwhelmed sometimes, but I don't want to be the girl feeling sorry for herself. These obstacles are what make me stronger. So I decided to focus more on the things that make me happy, and today I want to share them with you! :)

1. Writing books

Writing is one of my favourite things, but I used to be more creative when I was 13-16 years old. I never thought about writing a book, but I like to write down my thoughts. And like every teenager, I had intense thoughts.

When I started CreComm I found myself having to write A LOT. And what made it harder was that I wasn't writing my thoughts only. I have to write all types of papers, both factual and creative.

I bought two books to keep my creativity flowing.
One is called 1 Page At a Time by Adam J. Kurtz, and the other one is 642 Things to Write About by San Francisco Writers' Grotto.
I'm in love with them. Every night I tried to do at least one writing exercise, and they are all very simple. It helps me a lot with vocabulary!

2. Pens

My collection of pens keep getting bigger. Unfortunately I left a lot of the ones I already have in Brazil, because it was either the pens or my clothes hahaha.

Saturday I went to Chapters (I'm obsessed!) and bought the most gorgeous pen I've ever seen after the Swarovski's pens. The box says "Everything in moderation, except diamonds." I'd say, everything in moderation, except pens hahaha

The pen is golden and has a huge fake diamond on the top. I just simply felt the need to have it. It extremely necessary for my life, and to motivate me to write! hahaha

p.s.: these are terrible pictures! sorry!

3. TWO WEEKS!
It's only two weeks until my parents and my sister start to freeze with me in Winnipeg :D
Can't wait to see them!
I'm so so so happy!

See you next week!

sorry, my pad!

I have lots of memories, I know.

Fortunately my brain keeps everything I go through. Especially when the happenings are often.

I've ALWAYS been crazy about pads. As a kid, I would buy restaurant pads and receipt pads to play with it. My dad would bring the rest of pads he used at his office for me to play. I don't know why, but I like filling it out. Seriously, it is my dirty little secret. If you have anything to fill, give it to me, and I will. Grabbing a pen and writing short information is my thing!

When I started to grow up and swapped playing for studying, these pads became useless. I didn't have the imagination and time anymore, and like every teenager, I thought playing was for little children, not for grown-ups...

Until the day I bought my very first Knock Knock pad.
I was at an Urban Outfitters store in Virginia. The moment I saw it, I knew I had to buy it.
PADS FOR GROWN UPS!?!? OMG!

I was so happy the first time I saw one at an Urban Outfitters store!

It was my chance to do what I liked with a "purpose" (they don't really have a purpose other than entertaining you).

At Marshalls and HomeSense they have Knock Knock's pads and of course I bought some! hahaa At Chapters and Indigo! you have a bigger variety of them!

But wait, if you think all they have are pads you're wrong! If you go to their online store, you will find all sorts of stuff like books, pencils, organizers, etc.
These are things to collect!

They are so fun!

I love their sarcastic way of writing things! It makes our daily duties smoother!

And here's a little video I made for my Ad class explaining how to use one of these cute pads :)